CNN's Gergen Says Benghazi Will 'Long Be Forgotten' If Clinton Runs In 2016

On Tuesday's Starting Point, CNN's David Gergen smiled on
Hillary Clinton's "wonderful farewell" at the State Department and
touted her "very powerful position" for a 2016 presidential run. As CNN
noted, Gergen once worked as an adviser to President Clinton.

When asked if anything from Clinton's term as Secretary of State would
come back to haunt her as a presidential candidate, Gergen replied "I
don't think so. The Benghazi affair, I think, will long be forgotten unless there's some smoking gun we have no idea about."

Gergen echoed fellow Clinton admirers in the media, fawning over
Hillary's relationship with Obama and praising her work as Secretary of
State:

"But, you know, look at the public narrative, the public narrative, the
public has basically concluded she did a very good job. (...) And
the dignity in which she carried herself, the fact that she and
President Obama did seem to go more from the team of rivals to the team
of friends, all of that, I think, has stood her in good standingand I think her record as secretary of state will be a strong plus, not a minus."

"She's having a wonderful farewell, and I think she's probably enjoying
every minute of it, and frankly, she deserves it," Gergen gushed.

"As you well know, when Gallup takes the poll of the most admired woman
in the world, she had -- and this is a U.S. poll, she has been number
one for 11 straight years. 11 straight years, it's remarkable. The best
record of any woman on the Gallup Polls, which stretches all the way
back to 1948."

A transcript of the segment, which aired on Starting Point on January 29 at 8:15 a.m. EST, is as follows:

[8:15]

JOHN BERMAN: So, she's got this town meeting today, Secretary Clinton
does. She's also got a series of interviews, one interview after
another, after another, after another. What's she doing here?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN senior political analyst: She's having a wonderful
farewell, and I think she's probably enjoying every minute of it, and
frankly, she deserves it.

BALDWIN: Have other secretary of states done this in the past? We were
trying to think this morning, or is this sort of a first, all these
interviews and this very open –

(Laughter)

GERGEN: Well, I don't think we've ever seen a secretary of state have a
farewell interview with the President of the United States sitting next
to him or her on 60 Minutes. That is a first. So, yes, there's
other a lot – I think this is basically unprecedented. The speech that
she's giving tomorrow is very important with the Council on Foreign
Relations on America's leadership in the world and that I think is a
more traditional way of saying farewell.

It's a time to sort of sum up her views of where this country is going,
where the world is going, and what role we should play. And I – you
know, she's long believed that we should have a more muscular role than,
perhaps, even her successor will have. We'll wait and see.

SOCARIDES: David, it seems to me that the big shift here, you know,
there are a lot of people who'd like her to run for president, myself
included, but the big shift, you know, for a long time she said she
wasn't running. She wouldn't run. She was just going to take it easy,
but now when asked about it, she seems to say, well, you know, we'll
have to wait and see. That's a big change, no?

GERGEN: You're right. There's been a morphing that's been going on
here, slight, subtle changes. I think the truth is, she doesn't know.
Everybody who knows her well tells me she hasn't made up her mind. She
does want this rest. I think there's going to be a question of her
health that she has to consider, and at some point, she'll have to come
forward and people will want to know what her health records are if she
decides to run. She's going to be under pressure to make a decision
sooner rather than later. She can't wait, I think, more than a year or
so because there are going to be so many other aspirates. But, here's
the deal. She's got – she starts often in an enormously popular
position.

As you well know, when Gallup takes the poll of the most admired woman
in the world, she had -- and this is a U.S. poll, she has been number
one for 11 straight years. 11 straight years, it's remarkable. The best
record of any woman on the Gallup Polls, which stretches all the way
back to 1948.

So, she's in a very powerful position, but then she has to weigh it
against another proposition and that is, she has to get some sense of
how well the Obama administration is going to perform this second term.

If you think about it, since the Roosevelt/Truman years, we've had five
occasions when one party has held the White House for eight straight
years. And in the next election, the out party has won four out of those
five, only in one instance when Ronald Reagan was succeeded by George
H.W. Bush did the end party win a second time.

So, you see, that depends to some considerable extent on the
performance. Does this economy come back? Does it remain anemic? What
happens to jobs? That sort of thing. So, I think the calculations here
are not as simple as it may appear on the surface. She's got to – and a
little more time would, perhaps, give more clarity to our path.

FRANK FOER, editor, The New Republic: Is there anything from her record as secretary of state that could come back to haunt her as a presidential candidate?

GERGEN: I don't think so. The Benghazi affair, I think, will long be
forgotten unless there's some smoking gun we have no idea about. What
will be chewed over – but you know, a number of conservatives have now,
like Brit Hume, has said her record as secretary of state is much less
impressive than people are supposing.

But, you know, look at the public narrative, the public narrative, the
public has basically concluded she did a very good job. Yes, she didn't
have a lot of big triumphs. She didn't get a Nobel Prize for some
particular breakthrough in the Middle East, but, she's had a very
substantial record and the public looks upon her.

And the dignity in which she carried herself, the fact that she and
President Obama did seem to go more from the team of rivals to the team
of friends, all of that, I think, has stood her in good standing and I
think her record as secretary of state will be a strong plus, not a
minus.

BERMAN: All right. David Gergen, nice to see you this morning. Thank
you for joining us to join in the speculation. We're only too eager to
talk about 2016.

Federal employees and military personnel can donate to the Media Research Center through the Combined Federal Campaign or CFC. To donate to the MRC, use CFC #12489. Visit the CFC website for more information about giving opportunities in your workplace.